The Boy Who Builds
by Weird Writing Nerd
Summary: A strange boy in school catches Winnie's attention. Based on Inktober 2019 Day 5 prompt: Build.


His name was Herbert "Eggs" Trubshaw Jr., and he likes to build.

What exactly he builds, Winnie had no idea. Each day, he brought a different one to school, it seemed, but it'd always be some kind of gadget, or gizmo, or other odd contraptions. Each day, he'd pick the farthest table in the dining hall and start work on his contraption of the day, while treating his lunch as a side attraction. Crowds tend to avoid him, and he avoided them back, but sometimes crowds would form around him, usually when his contraptions blow up in his face, literally. That was how Winnie first noticed him, and she never stopped paying attention since.

Winnie never imagined a boy would be what captured her curiosity when she first moved here, but it wasn't a stretch to see why. He was an oddity, trying to blend in the background of mundanity. For the most part, he succeeded. But not from Winnie. She watched him every lunch, and this lunch was no different.

Today was a cloudy Thursday, cold enough to be prime jacket weather. Today, his contraption was a mess of steel wire and copper, vaguely in the shape of a helmet. Today, Winnie wasn't satisfied with watching from afar anymore.

"What on earth is that abomination supposed to be?"

Eggs jumped in his seat, like he'd been electrocuted. He looked up, wide-eyed, like a puppy that'd been caught drinking from the toilet.

"Was that… for me?"

Winnie held back from smirking. Up close, he looked quite cute. "No, that was for the fleas infesting your hair."

Eggs frowned. "Fleas can't-" He paused. You could practically see the gears clanking in his head. "That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

Winnie balanced her lunch tray on one hand so she could place the other on her hips. "I don't appreciate it when my question is answered with another question."

"S-sorry, what?" Eggs looked absolutely baffled, and Winnie was enjoying herself more than she'd thought.

"Seems I have to repeat myself." Winnie sighed, then cleared her throat with more panache than necessary. "What on earth is that abomination supposed to be?"

A long five seconds passed for the poor boy to swallow the question. "It's, uh, a construction helmet. Prototype. Construction helmet prototype," he answered, suddenly not as nervous as he'd been. "It's specifically for constructions deep underground. Tunnels, oil drills, building foundations, and the like. The models out right now aren't the best fit in those conditions, so I thought I'd take a crack at designing a better one."

Winnie nodded. "Interesting."

Eggs probably thought Winnie would then walk away with her curiosity sated, but he thought wrong. Instead, she placed her tray on the table and sat down across from him.

"My name is Winnie. You are Eggs," she said. "We are now friends."

If Eggs jumped like he'd been electrocuted before, now he jumped like lightning just struck him in the middle of the dining hall. His eyes wandered left and right, nervously, and she knew why. Winnie also could already feel eyes boring into the back of her neck, and people exchanging whispers behind her back. Those people could sod off.

"What just happened?" Eggs asked, more to himself than to her.

Winnie took a bite of her sandwich and raised an eyebrow at him. "We became friends. Were you paying attention?"

Eggs looked at her dumbly for an extended moment, blinking once, twice, before he slowly dragged his 'helmet' closer to him, his eyes never leaving her. Another moment passed as Winnie chewed, and his tense shoulders deflated, and without another word, he returned to busying himself with his contraption. Winnie let a minute went by before she chanced a glance at him, and she saw a faint smile on his lips. She couldn't stop herself from smiling too.

"You should finish your lunch once in a while. It's good for you."

Eggs paused. Slowly, he wiped his hand on his vest, picked up a sandwich from his tray, and took a bite.

"T-thanks, Winnie."

"You're welcome, Eggs."

* * *

**I hope you can tell this is set in the UK. I spent way too much time trying to make sure everything in this fits UK standards, instead of American ones.**

**Based on Inktober 2019 Day 5 prompt: Build.**


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